2023 Trends - Graphic, Technology, UI, UX

"The rise of the machines"

2023 is going to be the year artificial intelligence truly takes off. Many of these services are now available for anyone to try. And it's not just about generating text (ChatGPT), video, audio, or artwork (Dall-E & Midjourney), but also assistance with automation, calculations, code, and more.

Let's start with the most obvious and well-known ones that are on everyone's lips. Namely technology and machine learning:

Dall-E (v2)

This is probably the most well-known one, and the first to really break through in 2022 as the most polished machine learning technology out there. With simple, descriptive sentences, it lets you create artwork, remove, or add existing elements to photos or well-known works of art. Developed by OpenAI.

Chat GPT

From the same company behind Dall-E came Chat GPT and once again made headlines, truly showing what's possible with artificial intelligence. In short, through a "chat" interface you can ask the technology to write a short article based on very little input, often drawing inspiration from well-known influencers. It's clear this is still early days, as some fairly serious factual errors can occur, so it's wise to "stress-test" the text and output from the tool before you submit your "exam paper."

Midjourney

There's a feeling in the creative community that Midjourney is far more creative and polished (even though it, too, is still in beta... though beta may well be the right label for a lot of these tools, since they're constantly evolving and improving). It runs through Discord, and like Dall-E, you get a fair number of free "credits" to create your first masterpieces. But as with anything creative, it all comes down to how well you can describe what you want "produced." You could really think of it as being a director with a "creative brief" that ultimately gives you an "output."

Finally, we should also mention "Stable Diffusion", which is a competitor to both Dall-E and Midjourney, but which also produces different results even when the creative prompt is identical. That's obviously a good thing, since you might choose a tool based on "look and feel."

What all of these have in common is that, despite the advanced code behind them, they're accessible to all of us through "no-code." As "ambassadors" for making technology and tools accessible to everyone, regardless of coding knowledge, we're big fans of that. Every solution is built on code, but only a handful of us can actually program — yet through visual interfaces we're now able to create almost anything, with only our imagination setting the limits.

Design Trends 2023

Here's some of what we think will sum up the design trends within UI, UX, and graphic design heading into 2023.

Variable fonts (UI, UX, and web):

Variable fonts have been available for a while in various design software, but we truly believe that in 2023 — thanks in large part to no-code — this technology will become far more prominent, primarily through simple animations and transitions, and on many more websites.

Motion design

Dribbble: Alex Go & Co

With tools like Lottie, Spline, Vectary and Rive we'll likely see even more animation across websites, social media, short-form video, and not least in apps. Lottie has already established itself as the animation format preferred by many, and you can see examples of that right on our own website. Launched by AirBNB a few years ago. Rive will likely grow and seriously challenge Lottie in 2023. With its own app that lets you produce content (no need for costly Adobe and After Effects licenses), where the files are just as compatible and, importantly, much smaller in file size, there's every reason to believe we'll see a new major player in this space next year.

Spline has truly stepped up to compete with far more expensive and, frankly, more complicated tools, and has followed a bit in the footsteps of traditional UI/UX tools. Many describe Spline as "Figma for 3D" — and not without reason. With a simple interface, gentler terminology, and the ability to add animation and interaction.

In 2022 we've already had the chance to create small animations and interactions for clients. And toward the end of the year, Spline also introduced a so-called "cloner" system that lets you clone and manipulate copies of an object in various ways. One of Spline's strong points is how easy it is to share, and not least integrate, your creations on websites and other tools that support "embed" — and it can also be exported straight to code for those working in environments like React.

Check out Spline here.

Vectary

Vectary takes a more traditional approach to 3D, but Spline and Vectary are actually pretty similar in terms of functionality. The community and buzz around the newer Spline feels a notch better, but in terms of raw functionality — and especially the range of tools — Vectary has the edge. What they have in common is that both run right in the browser, with no installation required. And if you want extra-high quality images or files, Vectary also offers a "Photon" renderer that produces realistic renders at a quality you'd expect from Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, 3D Studio Max, and the like. Where we think Vectary still has "the edge" is that it has something called a "product configurator," which lets you set up variations of a 3D model. For example, if you have a shoe with different color and lace options, you can export that and use it directly in your web shop. Neat, right? Check out the video below of the new Vectary.

Read more about Vectary here.

Nostalgic design

We're seeing more and more people go a little "retro" in terms of colors, typography, and, not least, illustration style. For those into photography, you can also see a number of photographers embracing the old "film look," with less staged models and situations. It's a return to what feels authentic and, not least, offers an emotional journey back in time where these elements are concerned.

Dribbble. Unfold.

Dribble. Milos Bojkovic.

Dribbble. Ruxandra Nastase.

Dribbble. Pavlov Visuals.

Rich contrast and minimalism

Trends cross over and some repeat themselves. We are again seeing minimalism hold a solid footing in both brand development and, not least, within UI & UX. And we also believe 2023 will bring richer contrast across various surfaces. Enjoy the examples below.

Dribbble. Aga Jucha-Kasperczyk.

Dribbble. Bazen Talks.

Dribbble. Craft Work Studios.

Gradients

Gradients will continue to be used across various surfaces, but we'll likely see them evolve — either showing up as bold, high-contrast statements or as a subtle, understated element supporting products, headings, and so on.

Dribbble. Kat Pryma.

Dribbble. Lea Konaševská.

Dribbble. Nick Kumbari.

Big typography

We'll likely see even more use of big typography (really big). The web has the ability to use responsive typography (fonts) that adapts to screen resolution. But social media and print will likely see increased use of this trend too.

Dribbble. Rayfan Tio Saputro.

Dribbble. Tam Hoang.

Dribbble. Brandbox.

That was a little sneak peek at what we think will shape 2023 in terms of design and technology trends. This article will likely be updated throughout the year with new screenshots, new trends, and not least what's happening on the AI front. And remember, trends are there to inspire — but it's your own signature style that will ultimately define the result. With that in mind, we wish everyone a great, creative 2023.

And if you're curious what's possible with AI and Midjourney, check out screenshots from Müzli below.